I traveled to several Central American countries during the Winter Break of December 2006. This trip marks my first expedition to the Central Americas, a region not too far away from the United States but made famous for being a staging ground for aspiring migrants to the Land of the Free. It is a deeply misunderstood region marred by gang violence and the influence of drug cartels.
While most of my friends spend most of their scholarship salary on getting a ski season pass (approx..USD$350) and ski equipment I thought of spending it on a month's backpacking trip to Central America; a region too far away for me to visit if I'm back in Malaysia plus I'm kinda free from the control of strict parents for the time being. Since I was already in the United States and Central America is not too far away, why not make a trip down there to see the region for myself? So I decided to forgo fun in the snow with my buddies and head for a solo journey through the 5 Central American nations of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras & El-Salvador.
In Cancun, Mexico.
I flew from Denver transiting in Minnesota then arriving in Cancun, Mexico. All together the flight took 6 hours. When I first stepped out of Aeropuerto Cancun, my cold bones from the harsh winter of Colorado was instantly warmed up by the scorching Mexican sun. I took a "collectivo" which is a kind of shared taxi from the airport to the city center... its the cheapest way to get into town. I found a backpackers lodge for $9 per night in the heart of the clubbing district.....which also means it will be hard to get a good night's sleep with all those clubbing soundtracks ringing in my head.
I moved on to Belize the following day. My journey plan is to go as far south as possible then head back north to Cancun, Mexico where I will take my flight back to Denver.
Enjoying the breeze at Seaside front...Belize City. Just right in front of the guest house i stayed in.
Downtown Belize City reminds me of Kuala Kemaman fishing village in Terengganu where I spent most of my childhood. Could Kuala Lumpur have looked like that back then in the 1950s?
Although I was told that Belize City has a very high crime rate due to the high unemployment rate, I found the folks to be quite friendly and things going quite orderly. Perhaps the situation is not so true at night. Most Belizeans were descendants of the British pirates in the Caribbean Sea who was told to rob and terrorize Spanish ships. The British also brought lots of Black slaves from Africa and some Chinese laborers from China into Belize hence the multi racial build up...just like Malaysia. One thing I didn't realize until it came across my mind later was that I was communicating with Belizeans in English...speaking English in a Spanish dominated region? Belize is the only English speaking country in Central America where the majority speaks Spanish. How cool of Belize!
Oldest Cathedral in Belize...built by the British.
The British influence is very strong in Belize as seen in the numerous colonial houses lining the streets of Belize City.
I moved on to Guatemala when I was pretty much done with Belize. The bus ride from Belize City to Flores, Guatemala was a really bumpy one! On the Guatemalan side of the border, the roads were not even paved and all the passengers on board were like riding a horse.
At the Guatemalan immigration customs. Belize-Guatemala border.
GUATEMALA "Ruins of Tikal"
The main highlight of my trip to Guatemala is to visit the ruins of Tikal. Tikal use to be a center of Mayan civilization thousands of years ago. It was mysteriously abandoned and the jungle came back to reclaim the place...like how most ancient wonders end up (eg: Angkor Wat).
Steep wooden stairway to the temple top.
Big Mayan pyramid sprouting out of the dense jungle canopy.....truly a sight to behold!
Pyramids popping out of the jungle.
Tikal was one of the locations where the Star Wars saga was filmed. To those who are interested in making the trip to Tikal more worth it...go early in the morning so that you can cover most of the major sites. Stay till dusk and pick your favorite temple site to watch sunset. It is recommended to do this in a group because there have been cases of lone travelers being raped or robbed during dark.
An Iglesia at twilight time, Flores.
The pretty island town of Flores, Guatemala.
I headed to Esquipulas in the south of Guatemala. Deep in the high mountains of the country lies a revered church called the "Church of the Black Christ" or Iglesia El Cristo Negro. The place is said to be so sacred and revered that people from all over the country from all walks of life come to pay pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime. When I was there, Christmas was like two days away.....so imagine the crowd I had to face! Nearly all the lodges in town were nearly filled up, but lucky enough for me, I found my self a small manger like place which cost USD$3 a night. Not the widest of rooms but who cares....as long as I can lay down and sleep!
In front of the "Church of the Black Christ" Esquipulas, Guatemala.
People flock in the thousands especially during Christmas season to pay pilgrimage to the Black Christ. It took quite sometime queing up to catch a glimpse of the Black Christ as there was like a thousand in front of me. During the couple of hours queing, I spoke to some of the locals in front and behind of me. I asked them what made this place so popular with pilgrims.They said the locals believe that the Black Christ possesses special healing powers and there have been cases where the crippled could walk again and the blind could see after praying in front of the Black Christ.
The line went around all the corners of the church and then led into a small chamber, I was quite sure that the Black Christ is fast approaching but I still can't catch a glimpse of it (how frustrating after hours of queing)...Suddenly when the people around me started kneeling down, a solemn black figure appeared in front of me..."The Black Christ". I was caught stunned! Then out of a sudden all the people around me started breaking into tears. To be honest I didn't quite know how to react at that time with everyone around me crying. Should I lend a handkerchief or should I start crying too?
As I gazed into the melancholic eyes of the "Black Christ" I sense the peace of mind he brings to people.
HONDURAS
My journey took me further south to the ex-banana republic of Honduras. There I visited the small ancient town of Copan Ruinas which boast Tikal-like ancient Mayan ruins.
The journey through the rolling hills was breath taking! One could see that the economy of this region is deeply agricultural.
Beautiful mountain vistas.
Convention of cowboys! Welcome to cowboy country.....ariba!
At the Honduras-Guatemala border. The cowboy money changers behind me greets visitors at the border with their various rates trying to win each others potential customers...but at the end of the day they will all get together and have a cigarette together to celebrate their day's gains.
The cobbled streets of Copan Ruinas. Copan Ruinas lies in a secluded spot of the country, deep in the mountainous region where few would ever imagine tourists would go to.
Posing with a Honduran cowboy. This really is Indiana Jones country!
Posing with some local women in traditional Mayan outfit.
Gerson's big happy family. Gerson is in the center back row (in blue).
I made a friend (which I am still in touch with) when I was visiting the ruins at Copan. His name is Gerson. I was having a tough time using the tripod to take photos with me in it and he showed up offering to take my picture. He tagged along me and we started talking about Honduran chicks, politics, and America. Gerson was an ex-illegal immigrant to the United States. After spending 5 years working illegally as a taxi driver in the United States he was caught by the police and sent back home to Honduras. As it was hard to get a job in Honduras, he tried entering the United States several times again through the Mexican border but failed. He now works as a mountain guide at a popular national park nearby and takes tourist up the mountains. He also introduced his big family to me...they were spending some time together at the ruins as a Christmas get together.
With Gerson's nieces and nephews. Cute aren't they?
Hieroglyphic Stairway. The carvings in the stairway records the history of Copan Kingdoms throughout the ages.
That night, I spent Christmas walking around town to the tunes of Christmas.....though in Spanish for a change. I saw children joyfully playing with fire crackers and adults laughing with the company of relatives...reminds me of festive celebrations back home in Malaysia.
EL SALVADOR
After spending Christmas in Honduras I continued my journey to El Salvador which literally means "The Saviour" in Spanish. I visited the mountain town of Metapan. Before I arrived I was told that El Salvador was one of Central America's wildest country...in the sense that its very much like the wild wild west where the sounds of gunshots are common. Hearing that itself made me think twice on whether to pay a visit to El Salvador. However, being the adventurous traveler I am, I decided to journey into El Salvador...the land where most tourist bypass.
At the El Salvadorian-Guatemalan frontier. The immigration officers had no clue if Malaysia existed or not. It was their first time coming across a Malaysian passing through this checkpoint. So I had quite some time explaining the purpose of my visit, how long I plan to stay, where Im gonna stay etc. to the officers. The whole office went haywire trying to find out whether a Malaysian needed a visa to enter El Salvador or not. In the end, I guess they got tired of trying to find out Salvadorian visa requirement for Malaysians and they just let me through....free of charge.....that's one of the benefits coming from a lesser known country ;P
The colorful local bus I rode through the mountains to Metapan.
The majestic El-Trifinio whose peak is shared among 3 nations namely; El Salvador, Guatemala & Honduras. The mountain is also known locally as Montecristo.
Taking time out in an Iglesia. After all the hassles of traveling, I truly needed the serenity of the church.
The oldest and largest iglesia in Metapan.
Metapan, El-Salvador was my furthest destination south in Central America. My journey up to this point was so far nothing short of amazing. From here I made my way up north again to catch my return flight in Cancun, Mexico. Along the way I took the opportunity to visit beautiful beaches along the Mexican coastline and also the infamous Chichen Itza, an ancient Mayan monument which was recently voted as one of the seven wonders of the world.
Tulum, Mexico:
Tulum, Mexico is certainly one of my top picks if not THE TOP PICK for best beaches I've ever visited. The sand is pure white, its grains are fine like silk and the seawater is turquoise in color. What makes it unique to other beaches are the ancient Mayan ruins scattered along the seashore. I bet, many ancient Mayan warrior had definitely begged their commanders like hell to be posted in Tulum given its breathtaking settings!
In addition to that, there are plentiful of chica bonitas sunbathing all over the beach too! :)
The only not so sightly thing in Tulum are its native inhabitants (not the Mexicans) :
Meet Juan, the friendly iguana. One of the many reptiles that run around the beach frightening all the chica bonitas.
Since I fell in love with the charm of Tulum, I decided to celebrate new years' day there. New years' was a night of wild partying on the beach and a brightly lit sky by all the fireworks. I could even see the silhouette of the ruins on each explosion of fireworks. It certainly was one of the most memorable and beautiful new years' day for me!
Next stop, Chichen Itza:
One must come to Chichen Itza very early in the morning to avoid the really, really long line of tourists buying entrance tickets. I left at 6AM, so I had the place to myself for the first part of the morning.
The temple of Kukulkan which is the pyramid that dominates Chichen Itza is engineered in a way that on a fine sunrise and sunset during Spring equinox, a shadow of a serpent is casted on its slopes. I took the whole morning and half of the afternoon to explore all of the temples and ruins in Chichen Itza. It is such an amazing place as one can personally experience the engineering marvels of the ancient world. No wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world!
I left Central America with a ton load of beautiful memories of the region. I didn't regret not joining my friends in the snow a wee bit as this journey into the heartland of the Mayans was truly a once in a lifetime experience! On the airplane home, I was already planning my next trip.....this time I'm heading further south to South America. Adios y hasta la vista.
